The invention concerns a stand, in particular for Christmas trees, especially to a stand which comprises a holder, support legs, and a water container. The holder includes a tubular portion through which fastening screws project to support a tree trunk, the latter extending into the water container.
Different types of stands are known for the setting up of trees for decorative purposes, such as for example Christmas trees or maypoles.
According to one proposal (see U.S. Pat. No. 1,005,750), the tree trunk is set into a stand equipped with outwardly projecting support legs after tightly clamped fastening rings have been set onto the trunk. The rings are located above and below a tubular holder and together immobilize the tree on the stand.
According to another proposal (see U.S. Pat. No. 1,680,050) the tree trunk is held by a clamping device mounted on a lower stand having outwardly projecting support legs. The clamping device is equipped with two open clamping rings independently adjustable in height; the free end of the trunk is set into a water vessel.
Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,694,815 a stand has outwardly projecting removable support legs, and the tree trunk is set into a cup-shaped holder, with the end of the trunk resting on the bottom f the holder. The inserted end of the trunk is then tightly clamped by clamping screws located in two vertically spaced planes. The holder is set rotatingly onto the stand.
Other stands are known in which the lower trunk end is introduced into a holder (see for Example German GM-17 78 031), with the trunk end resting in the area of the lower end of a tubular holder and being clamped by means of a plurality of fastening screws in the area of the upper end of the holder. The holder is set on a stand equipped with support legs, the distance of radial projection of which determines the bearing strength of the stand. In this design an attempt is made to support the weight of the trunk by setting it onto the stand and to align the trunk erected in this manner by means of the fastening screws located at one end of the holder and to secure it in the aligned position. A disadvantage involves the fact that the alignment can be effected only with difficulty, as the bottom support is not point-shaped and cannot be assumed to be axial; the irregularities of the growth of the tree render a satisfactory alignment of the trunk difficult.
It has, therefore, already been proposed (see German GM-82 35 405) to equip the holder with a plurality of fastening screws located in vertically spaced planes. The lower end of the trunk is tightly clamped by several fastening screws provided in the lower plane of the trunk holder, while the screws in the upper plane are initially used to align and then additionally clamp the trunk.
It is further known to equip the tree stand with three support legs in order to utilize the tilting security of the three-point support.
It has also been proposed (see German Document GM-72 47 527) to place the entire stand for a Christmas tree into a vessel filled with water to prevent drying and to keep the tree fresh.
The present invention constitutes an improvement over the above-described state of the art. An object of the invention is to provide a stand of the afore-mentioned type so that the clamping and alignment may be performed simply; wherein the tree stand itself is light and may be produced economically with reduced material requirements, while displaying the necessary stability; and making it possible to provide water in order to keep the tree fresh, the tree being packaged in a space saving manner, so that additional decorations are possible.